


bits and pieces

by thesaddestboner



Series: bang ’em up bruiser queen [11]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, F/M, Gen, Implied homophobia, No Plot/Plotless, Not Beta Read, Other, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-16 14:45:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9276593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesaddestboner/pseuds/thesaddestboner
Summary: I found some unposted drabbles/unfinished fic set in mycisswap 'verseso I'm just posting them as a chaptered fic.





	1. Retirement

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/thesaddestboner) and [tumblr](http://saddestboner.tumblr.com).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _She hasn't talked to him in—God, going on two years now when she sees the news crawl across the bottom of her TV._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was obviously going to deal with Brad Stuart's (fictional, as far as I know) retirement but I lost interest.

She hasn't talked to him in—God, going on two years now when she sees the news crawl across the bottom of her TV.

**Defenseman Brad Stuart hangs up the skates. Veteran blueliner calling it quits after season-ending surgery.**

Nik reaches for her phone and then pauses, hand hovering in the air. Would a text or phone call be welcome? Maybe Stuie doesn’t _want_ to hear from her. They had, after all, put their relationship—romantic and otherwise—firmly behind them the last time they spoke. Nik had resolved to leave the past in the past and finally move on. 

Nik had done a pretty good job of it too. She’d even brought her last boyfriend home to Sweden, to meet her parents and brothers. They weren’t together anymore, but it still felt like progress.

Will calling Stuie unravel all of it?

Nik picks up her phone and taps out his number, intending only to leave a short, sweet text.

But what to write? _Congrats on the retirement_? _Sorry you had to have career-ending surgery_?

Nik sighs and puts the phone back down on the coffee table. She turns her attention back to the TV. SportsCenter has already moved on, the end of Stuie’s career worth no more than a five second news crawl. An easily forgotten blip.

The thought roils uncomfortably in Nik’s stomach, that the end of Stuie’s career could pass so easily. It hadn’t even merited a mention from the anchors at the newsdesk. They’d just moved on to the next hot topic in the world of sports.

Nik picks her phone back up.

_heard u were looking to improve ur golf game, ur gonna need all the free time. congrats on the retirement stu, u’ve earned it. — n_

She sets her phone back down and turns her attention back to the TV. They’ve already moved on to highlights from that evening’s round of football games. Nik gets up, grabs her hoodie from the coatrack by the door, and goes out for an evening run.


	2. Coming Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Z never intends to come out. In fact, her agent had advised her against it, telling her to wait until her playing days were over._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to deal with always-a-cisgirl Henrik Zetterberg deciding to come out as a lesbian, and how the revelation affects her friendship with Pavel Datsyuk, but I never really got anywhere with it.

Z never intends to come out. In fact, her agent had advised her against it, telling her to wait until her playing days were over. 

“There’s never been an active, openly gay NHLer,” he’d told her after she signed her first contract. 

At the time, she brushed the comment off. She, Henrika Zetterberg, was about to put her signature on that dotted line and become the Detroit Red Wings’ first ever female player. She was making history. She didn’t have time to worry about the rest of her life. 

Now, in retrospect, she thinks it had been a warning.

It wasn’t something they talked about much, Z and her agent, but he knew. She’d always been fairly open as a teenager back in Sweden. It had been a little easier to be herself there than in the States.

When Z came to Michigan to start her professional career, she brought her “personal assistant” with her. That’s what all the papers said. The Detroit media accepted the lie and disseminated it, and all was well. The only places that whispered a hint of the truth were the gossip sites that players sometimes talked about when they were bored. No one ever took them seriously.

Desirée hadn’t minded, at first. They’d been young and idealistic and in love, and hadn’t cared about labels. Z had hockey and Desi, and that’s all she wanted, all she needed. 

Z can’t blame Desi for growing tired of the inaccurate label and all the secrecy, though. She’d finally just gotten sick of it and went back home a few years ago.

Coming out is an accident, though, something Z hadn’t planned on or anticipated. She certainly hadn’t intended to come out to _Pavel_. Pavel, her best friend on the team, Pavel who is devoutly religious and just as devoted to old world tradition and propriety.

Pavel, who sometimes quotes scripture as inspiration. Pavel, who wears a heavy gold crucifix under his layers, against his chest.

Z has never been what one would consider religious. Sweden is known for being atheist or, at the very least, benignly indifferent toward religion and Z’s family is no exception. They celebrated the big holidays, like Christmas and Easter, but they didn’t go to church regularly and Z doesn’t remember ever seeing a crucifix in their house.

She hasn’t ever really thought about it—coming out—before, and definitely not to Pavel. Z sees the gleaming gold crucifix, hears the whispered Russian prayers, glimpses the icons lining the top shelf of his locker, and knows to keep quiet. She can’t risk upsetting the applecart, can’t risk becoming a distraction. No one’s exactly come out and said this to her, but she knows in her heart that it’s true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The author of this piece intends no insult, slander, or copyright infringement, and is not profiting from this work. This story is a complete work of fiction and does not necessarily reflect on the nature of the individuals featured. This is for entertainment purposes only. If you found this story while Googling your name or the names of your friends, hit the back button now.


End file.
